Merry Christmas to everyone, home and abroad! Working on Christmas Day wasn’t as fun as I’d thought/hoped it would be; Japanese people really don’t celebrate Christmas, despite the trees and the decorations and the carols playing everywhere.

The evening more than made up for that, though. After a great dinner cooked by Trevor’s fair hand (chicken, as turkeys are impossible to find here) and shared with other teachers, we trooped off to Bierhall, the local gaijin bar. The place was packed with plenty of people who were celebrating and who were slightly bemused by the lack of celebration elsewhere. The rest of the night was spent listening to Toby, Dan and Bill on guitars knocking out some Christmas classics as well as just jamming with a local saxophonist. Good fun had by all. I’ve got work again in 8 hours or so, which doesn’t seem fair when England will be sitting down stuffed with food watching the Queen or Bond or the latest “last-ever” Only Fools and Horses. Ah well. As they say here: “shou gai nai.”